Lanyu

Lanyu is a 45 km² high island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan Island and separated from the Batanes of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait. It is governed as Lanyu Township of Taitung County, Taiwan.

The island is home to the Tao, an ethnic minority group who migrated to the island from the Batan Archipelago 800 years ago. The island is known to them as Ponso no Tao or Pongso no Tawo “Island of the people” or Irala. Out of a total current population of 4000, approximately 2400 belong to the aboriginal Tao community and the remaining 1600 are mainly Han Chinese. In neighboring Philippines the island is referred to as Botel Tobago.